Field hockey sweeps weekend set in Maine

The No. 20 Boston University field hockey team showed why they are one of the preeminent programs on the East Coast this past weekend in Orono, Maine by coming away with a sweep against Hofstra University and the University of Maine.

Facing Hofstra (2-2) Saturday, BU (3-1) struck early and often, notching four tallies through the first 30 minutes of play. Four different Terriers cracked the scorecard, as junior forward Amanda Cassera broke open the floodgates in the ninth minute off an assist from junior backer Bea Baumberger Altirriba for her first goal of the season.

Following in Cassera’s footsteps, Altirriba registered a goal of her own in the 14th minute before sophomore midfielder/forward Grace Boston came off the bench to log an unassisted try, her second of the season, at the 26:31 mark.

With a comfortable 3-0 lead in hand, freshman forward Ally Hammel took her cue and added two exclamation points to her young BU career. The Duxbury native scored the next two Terrier goals, the first and second of her collegiate career, and iced the game for her team.

“She doesn’t play like a freshman,” said BU coach Sally Starr of Hammel. “She’s very poised. She’s got good hockey smarts. She’s starting for us right now [because] she’s shown in practice and in the games so far that she has the ability to be a good finisher in the circle and be a goal-scorer, as well as just being able to set up her teammates and draw corners for us as well.”

After Hammel’s explosion in her second career start, BU rolled to a 6-3 victory. Junior goalkeeper Cammy Jensen allowed two blemishes in the last 15 minutes, but Hofstra could not muster enough offense to worry the Terriers.

Two days later on Labor Day, the Terriers went back against host-school Maine (3-1). The Black Bears had won their first three contests of their season before their encounter with BU.

The Terriers began the game sluggishly, launching just three shots to Maine’s six and failing to convert on four penalty corner opportunities in the first half. Starr was not pleased with her team’s effort early on, but she would have reason to celebrate by game’s end.

“In the first half we were really flat,” Starr said. “They were beating us to the ball and we weren’t playing attacking, aggressive hockey. We were almost walking around in a fog. We were lucky to keep it 0-0 at halftime. I just was not happy with the first half of the Maine game at all. The girls were not happy.”

BU turned it around early in the second period when junior forward Madeline McClain scored her first career goal in the 47th minute. But it would not hold the lead for long as junior Danielle Aviani netted the equalizer for the Black Bears just under 14 minutes later.

The game would remain deadlocked for the rest of regulation and the two teams entered into overtime. Just over 11 minutes in, Maine committed a costly foul and the referee awarded junior midfielder Hester van der Laan a penalty stroke. Last week’s Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week converted and sent the Terriers to their fifth 3-1 start in the last six years with a 2-1 victory.

“It definitely was not our best hockey game, but I have to credit Maine,” Starr said. “Maine played us really tough. They were very aggressive and they really challenged us to step up our game to be able to win it today. We stepped it up well enough to win the game against a very difficult team today.”

Coming off a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of in-state rival No. 18 University of Massachusetts-Amherst on Aug. 30, the Terriers showcased resiliency over Labor Day weekend in earning two victories on the road.

“We played two good teams this weekend in both Hofstra and Maine, particularly Maine today,” said BU coach Sally Starr. “At times, we played very very well this weekend … Whenever you’re on the road and you can come home with two wins, even if they’re not pretty wins and they’re not playing as well as you’d like them to play, it’s still … a good thing. It’s not easy.”